Bedridden patients generally require highly focused and specialized medical care. As such patients are typically unable to move on their own, caring for them usually involves the use of patient-carrying devices. A common type of patient-carrying device is a portable system with a support frame that supports an overhead rail with a trolley movably mounted thereto. The patient is placed in a harness, which harness is connected to a loop or eye-bolt depending from the trolley. The patient is lifted, and then moved by the caregiver along the overhead track. In this way, the patient can be moved from one location to another (e.g. from bed to a wheelchair, or from a wheelchair to the toilet).
Typically, the patient harness is coupled to a loop or eye-bolt depending from the track. It is common for the overhead track to be so high above the floor that the loop is not reachable by hand. Therefore, typically, a reaching tool is used to connect the harness with the loop. A typical reaching tool consists of a handle fixedly attached to a hook from which the strap for the harness depends. Once the hook is hooked onto the loop, the patient is moved with the handle still attached to the hook.
This configuration presents a number of problems. First, the elongate handle of the reaching tool remains attached to the harness strap while the patient-carrying device is in use. This presents safety concerns, because it is possible for the caregiver to be struck by the handle as the trolley is moved. In addition, the elongate handle can easily strike walls or furniture as the trolley is moved, thus causing damage and inconvenience.
In addition, the prior art hook that connects to the loop is typically a fixed open hook. Such hooks are used because, since the loop is typically out of reach, and the reaching tool must be used, the hook can only be anchored to and unanchored from the loop if the hook is an open hook. However, regulations in many jurisdictions require that any hook or carabiner used in the carrying of patients must form a closed shape, to ensure that the hook does not slip off and cause the patient to fall.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,955 (“Katsma”) discloses a carabiner for use by mountain climbers. The carabiner includes a body and a latch, as well as a trigger. The trigger forces the latch to a closed position in response to loading. Absent a load, there is a biasing element that biases the latch to an open position when the latch is at least three quarters open, and otherwise biases the latch to a closed position. Thus, the biasing element is bidirectional, urging the latch in different directions depending on the latch's position.
The trigger and biasing element are positioned at the top of the carabiner and thus distal from the load (typically the climber or his pack) positioned below the carabiner. The trigger is actuated by the connector connecting the carabiner to the object above it.
The carabiner of Katsma, however, does not solve the problems described above. For example, the carabiner of Katsma, once closed, must be pushed open by hand in order to overcome the biasing element. However, as explained above, the loops to which patients are typically attached often cannot be reached by hand. Also, the trigger being distal from the load makes it difficult to unhook the carabiner from the object above, because the connector is connected through the trigger.
Other carabiners, including those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,576,352 and 1,010,952, also do not solve the problems that arise with patient carrying devices.